Jing Liu ^a, Xiaoke Li ^a, Xiaojin Li ^b, Luhua Jiang ^a,*

^a College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, 53 Zhengzhou Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266042, P.R. China

^b Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266101, P.R. China

Abstract

Water balance in cathode catalyst layer (CCL) is crucial for proton exchanged membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Herein, we report a novel strategy to develop a Janus few layered graphene particles (FLGP) with asymmetric wettability by varying the carbon precursors in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Using the Janus FLGP supported Pt with asymmetric wettability as the cathode of a PEMFC, a peak power density of 632 mW cm^-2 is achieved, which is about two-folds of the hydrophobic FLGP and three-folds of the hydrophilic FLGP based cathode, respectively. The enhanced performance could be ascribed to the well-constructed three-phase boundary in an anti-flooding cathode, leading to enlarged electrochemical active surface area and facilitated mass transfer. Our work may provide new clues for improving water management in PEMFCs.

Keywords: Proton exchanged membrane fuel cell, anti-flooding, few layered graphene, support, cathode

^* E-mail: luhuajiang@qust.edu.cn

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnsc.2020.08.018